Where Are My Shades?

35 weeks and 4 days along today. Wow, that feels good! Little lady does not appear to be wanting to leave her nest anytime soon.

Last Friday at my weekly check-up I was given a quick ultrasound just to check position, fluids, etc.etc.etc. The doc was poking and prodding around on my belly with her hand before she started and she said "I think she's head down now!" "Oh no," I, Dr. Mom, assured her. "She has been breech this entire time and I haven't felt her move at all, so I'm pretty sure she's still got her little hind end down there."
Well - upon taking a peek we see that indeed she is no longer breech! Her little head is now right down there where it belongs and her feet and directly in line with my ribs to make for some pretty good kicks!

I was measuring about a week ahead, which means she's even bigger than we probably originally thought. I'm okay with that!

She is just looking perfect in there. She was practicing her breathing and her little heart was just beating away around 150 bpm.

I was told that I could gradually begin to do more here and there around the house. I still shouldn't get too cocky until 37 weeks, but at least now I can help out a bit in the kitchen, fold some laundry, change a diaper or two, and just get involved in my house again! It feels so good! The boys seem to be enjoying having their Mommy back and have wanted to do a lot of cuddling and get some TLC here lately.

In addition to helping around the house I am also scheduling a few short little outings to get out of the house too! A pedicure and haircut are in my foreseeable future!

I also was so touched when two dear friends,Dana and Mary, threw me a mini baby shower last week. It just so happened that Mary was in town at the same time as my Mom, so they threw together a little celebration of this new life that will soon join our family! It was just so thoughtful and felt so nice to get out of the house for few minutes!

So...all in all, doing good! Finishing up some projects here while I have the time, realizing that soon this time of laying around will really be a thing of the past!

4

4 weeks from today I will finally meet you face to face.

4 weeks from today your brothers will get to hold their baby sister for the first time.

4 weeks from today your Daddy will have a little girl in his arms who can begin to melt his heart.

4 weeks from today we can start life as a family of 5.

4 weeks from today I can nuzzle my face in to your neck and breathe in the smell of you.

4 weeks from today I can hear your tiny cries.

4 weeks from today I can study your little fingers and toes and kiss each one.

4 weeks from today...

4 weeks from today I will have to say goodbye to these amazing feelings of life inside of me as you kick and stretch and grow.

4 weeks from today I will have to share you with the rest of the world and this time that you just you and I have shared privately will be no longer ours.

4 weeks from today my precious daughter...

you will be here.

Relief

This morning I got a call that my second fetal fiber nectin test, which they gave to me last Friday, was also negative. This means that there is more than a 95% chance that I will not be going in to labor until I am at least 35 weeks! This also means that they will not be giving me steroid shots like they did with the boys. They also will no longer be doing weekly cervix checks, but instead will just let us ride this thing out and see how far we can go!

I will be 34 weeks this Thursday. I am continuing to feel great and I'm not experiencing much at all in the way of contractions or anything like that. I really have this feeling that she is going to be staying put for quite a long time to come. I am praying so!

I think the plan is to keep me on bed rest at least for now. Even as the weeks pass I do not think I will be resuming the full load of carrying for the boys, the home, cooking, etc. Chris and I just want to do whatever we can possible to bring her in to this world healthy and full term! Oh what an incredible blessing it would be if we could bring her right home from the hospital with us and our family!

Her nursery is pretty much all ready to go. Her drawers are filled, clothes are hung in the closet, name is chosen and painted for the wall, crib is made...it is all becoming so real! We are getting pretty excited about meeting this new member of our family!

In the meantime having my Mom here this past month has been just incredible. My Dad will fly out this Friday and spend a week with us, and then the two of them will fly home together on August 5th. I don't even want to think about having that goodbye! We have all gotten so attached to having "MaMaMa" here with us. The boys absolutely adore her, and I do kind of think she's enjoyed having this time with them too. She has just totally jumped right in with both feet and she is helping out around here so much. It has been such a huge blessing of this entire pregnancy twist to have her here with us.

Sorry for being so quiet on the blog. When the boys are here I spend most of the day being entertained by them instead of on this computer!

Here is a recent pic of our little lady taken last week:

I just can not get over how stinking adorable she is! I see that little button nose and it reminds me so much of her brothers! What a miracle!

So Thankful

Yesterday morning I went in for another check up of our little girl. They wanted to do a detailed ultrasound and get some weight estimates as well as recheck my cervix via ultrasound again.

I have been battling fear and anxiety some the past week thinking ahead to this appointment. I was nervous that things perhaps would be even worse, and of course my mind begins to jump to the possibility of needing to be put on bed rest in the hospital, or the fear of her coming now at just 32 weeks. This past Wednesday though I had some dear girlfriends pray with me before this appointment. It really helped me to have such peace going in yesterday morning.

So - I went in for my ultrasound. They checked her first and found that she is still completely and totally frank breech. Her little tooshie is just pushing on my bladder and her arms and feet are just hanging out above her head! Luckily, since we are planning a c-section for September 2nd I don't have to be too concerned about it - she just doesn't seem very comfortable to me!

They took measurements of her head circumference, her abdomen, and her femur. With those measurements combined they approximate her weight to be about 4 pounds, 8 ounces right now. I was so excited about that! I thought that I looked too small yet to be carrying around a four pound baby, but maybe that's just because I am used to carrying around 2 of them! She is measuring in the 58th percentile, so she is just a perfect little thing! We are so thankful!

They also checked the amount of amniotic fluid around her and found it to be just the perfect levels.

They then checked my cervix. 2 weeks ago my cervical length was 27 mm. 2 weeks prior to that it had been 35. When they checked it yesterday it had gone back up to 39! That is an amazing change for the better! Bed rest is definitely working and paying off. Even with me pushing down on my belly and creating pressure the numbers barely changed! I was so excited...nearly giddy! Thank you Lord!

We are hopeful and anticipating that as long as I keep off my feet and continue to take it easy this little lady should have no problem riding out this pregnancy for quite a long time to come still and just stay put and keep packing on the pounds!

The Dr. said that in a few weeks if things continue to go well I may be able to get off bed rest, but I am not sure if I will want to! If I can keep her inside until 39 weeks and allow her to grow and grow and grow, that is exactly what I want to do!

Belly pictures to come soon!